Seat Tracks a bit rusted...

[Jaycie685]

Ok I don't know why I didn't see this before, but while I was vacuuming my Vibe, I noticed that the tracks my seats sit on are a bit rusted. Not so rusty that it's really noticeable, but a bit rusty if you know what I mean.Now I'm not really sure on the history of my car as I bought it used. As far as I know, I am the third owner.I bought it back in March 2005 from a dealer (it was more of a truck rental place that also had several cars for sale). Now my understanding is that it used to be a rental car (Enterprise I think) and well those cars only stay on the lots for a certain amount of time before they are replaced. Then my Vibe went to this smaller dealer/truck rental and was being used there until they put it up for sale. I found it on autotrader.com and did a complete history check via carfax and it has a clear title and is still under warranty. It is a 2004 base and had 27,000 miles on it when I drove it home.Now I'm trying to figure out why the tracks are rusted. It couldn't have been a flood car as it doesn't flood where I'm from (not that I know of at least) and the carfax report is clear. I looked all over the floor of my car for any signs of water damage and found nothing. Just the rusted tracks.I'm guessing maybe moisture seeped in and rusted it? I'm just hoping it's nothing major and I wanted to ask you guys if you have this similar problem?

[Jaycie685]

Someone's gotta be able to help me with this!

[ragingfish]

The inside of my dash is rusted to hell...as well as some of the seatbelt hardware and seat tracks. It's normal. Part of mine can be attributed to a night of stupidity with an open moonroof and a rainstorm. But the rest is normal AFAIK. Keep in mind a car is FAR from weather tight. If it's damp outside the car, it's damp inside the car. Unless it rusts THROUGH the metal, you need not worry.

[ColonelPanic]

I was thinking about what mike said and he's got a good point - stuff is going to get wet. The car may not have come from San Diego previously, if it spent the first part of its life in a humid, excessively rainy or a snowy area, I can see that you would get some surface corrosion. People would be dragging in moisture and it could end up condensing on the cool metal seat tracks as the car sits. Just a theory.BUT... One thing I just thought of, and I hate to even bring this up, but it could be a water leak that previously occurred or still occurs back there. My friend had a Vibe there for a while, and he had a nasty water leak back there. The entire rear floor was soaked on the driver's side. It's entirely possible that something similar to what caused his leak (we never found out, he couldn't get the dealer to fix it, so he just got rid of the lemon) could definitely rust out the seat tracks. Next time you get the car washed, make double and triple sure that you aren't seeing or feeling any water coming in from back there. In his case, it seemed to be coming from above, would run down the carpet right below the seat cushions, and collect in the floor pan. With the amount of water that he had sitting back there, no doubt his tracks would have shown some rust as well if he let it go long enough.

[Jaycie685]

Thanks guys for your input. I just wanted to see if anyone else out there was having this same problem or if it was just me. Glad to find out it's not just me!I don't think I have a water leak because the floor under the mats aren't damp or wet. I don't have moonroof so it can't be water dripping in.I guess it's condensation like you guys said. So now I'm going to have to do some corrosion treatment on it to prevent further damage. It is so unsightly!

[ColonelPanic]

on not getting one with the moonroof, that's just one extra thing to leak. I won't be doing that again for sure. lol!I wonder if you could give everything a good coat with something greasy, like WD-40, to try to clean some of that stuff off and prevent further corrosion? I know what you mean, it probably is unsightly. Someone should have a good answer for you...

[Baltovibe]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »on not getting one with the moonroof, that's just one extra thing to leak.There are other threads that mention Vibes leaking, even without a moonroof. Like an improperly sealed roof seam (The roof seam is located under the black rubber seal that runs from the front to the rear of the vehicle).http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... li...tory1